Coconut Spice Cake

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Jamaican Toto Cake - inspired 

Gluten free and refined sugar free

Moist, fluffy, and swirled with grated coconut 


My friend and senior lab mate in our oceanography lab at UC Irvine moved out of state with her husband and was able to finish the rest of her lab work remotely. She was gearing up to defend her thesis, and I knew I couldn't let our lab's tradition die: after every accomplishment (advancement, defense, birthdays), we have a party and a cake. Since I joined the lab, I have taken over to replace the store-bought, often plastic-clamshell contained cakes and cupcakes with some freshly baked, healthy-ish, and most importantly low - waste treats. 

This friend of mine is from Jamaica, and absolutely loves coconut. So, after a simple google search of "Jamaican coconut cake," I stumbled across the Toto cake. I looked at a few different recipes and took what I liked from them and replaced the white sugar and white flour with maple sugar and oat flour. 

I made two identical cakes, and packed one with some ice packs, frosting, and toasted grated coconut, and sent it across the country. Most of the real Toto cakes I found were not frosted, but the frosting is my favorite part of a cake. Plus, with frosting, you can cover the entire cake with toasted coconut - a win-win in my book!


So, she defended her thesis to an audience of about 50 people on Zoom, and she passed with flying colors (not that anyone had a doubt, as she is completely brilliant). Her husband stayed up until 1am to frost the cake while she was sleeping, and we surprised her on Zoom afterwards with champagne and slices of the same cake she had right in front of her. Congratulations to Dr. Lovindeer! And, without further ado, the recipe. 

Ingredients :
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup maple sugar (or coconut sugar, or whatever sugar you prefer)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups oat flour*
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 cups grated coconut (plus more for topping)
  • 1 cup evaporated milk
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp coconut milk (full fat in a can)
Method: 
  1. Preheat oven to 375F and put parchment paper into pan of your choice: 
    1. 3 6-inch round pans
    2. 2 9-inch round pans
    3. 1 8 x 12 -inch rectangle pan
  2. Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs, and vanilla and beat. 
  3. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  4. Add flour mixture to into the butter, and slowly pour in the evaporated and coconut milks. 
  5. Add to baking sheet(s) and bake for 20-40 minutes depending on the size of the pan. 
  6. Cool completely on a wire before frosting. 

*You can blend oats to achieve flour - it's a tiny bit grittier - or buy a nice 25lb bag from Bob's Redmill which is what I like to use for cakes to make sure it's as fluffy and finely ground as can be)

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